EditorialA guide to Rudys Downtown recordSix years ago, Rudy Giuliani reassured the nation, the city and our neighborhood through one of our most difficult periods. His leadership of the city on Sept. 11, 2001 and for the three and a half months that followed is why he is now the leading Republican presidential candidate.

Greasing up PurimThe Jewish Community Project Downtown preschool updated the story of Purim by about 2,300 years to the 1950s Sunday as the group put a “Grease” twist on the story of Queen Esther saving her fellow Jews from Haman. J.C.P. executive director Darren Levine played King Astor Harris and Lori Fineman was the “Homecoming Queen Esther” at the P.S. 234 celebration at P.S. 234. [More]

92nd St. Y-Trinity ‘summit’ talks end with Downtown dealBy Skye H. McFarlane
The dream of a Downtown Y will be deferred no longer. On March 1, the 92nd St. Y announced that it had finalized a lease to occupy 15,800 square feet of ground floor space at 200 Hudson St., just south of Canal St.

Lower East Siders debate housing tower limitsBy Julie Shapiro
The Lower East Side is changing fast. Residents and government officials want to stop that change in its tracks  or at least control it  and hope they’ve found the solution: rezoning.

March Madness at P.S. 234Manhattan Youth has opened a free Friday night gameroom for March in P.S. 234’s cafeteria to give Downtowners a small sample of the recreation center it plans to open in the fall on the same block as the school at Greenwich and Warren St.

Warm embraceA statuesque monkey and cat appeared to be huddling for warmth in Wagner Park Wednesday after a slight snowfall in the frigid temperatures.

ARTSThe personal stormBy Harry Newman
Since the early 1990s, Rob Reddy has been forging a way uniquely his own as a jazz composer, saxophone player and bandleader in New York.

Listen to Downtown Express
Radio on the internet:Associate editor Josh Rogers and reporter Skye H. McFarlane discuss tours around the World Trade Center, the pending demolition of the former Deutsche Bank building across from the W.T.C., 9/11 funding issues, and Sen. Hillary Clinton with guest Catherine McVay Hughes, chairperson of Community Board 1's W.T.C. Redevelopment Committee.
Recorded 2/23/07.

NEWSWhat’s behind The Door?By Brooke Edwards
Growing up in a rough part of Harlem, Steven Batista saw violence outside his door everyday. As a kid, he recalls just coasting by in school and being uncomfortable talking to adults, including his own parents. And Batista never dreamed he would get out. “It was like, this is life in my little neighborhood in Harlem and you’re not gonna leave this little box.”

Financial District gets federal historic designationBy Skye H. McFarlane
Few places in the United States contain as much history as the southern tip of Manhattan. Over the past five centuries the area has played host, successively, to the Lenape Indians, the Dutch settlers, the British Empire, the first capital of the United States, the heart of the global economy, and now, a re-burgeoning residential population.

Club is Grand in name and noise only, neighbors sayBy Brooke Edwards
For residents living above the nightclub 46 Grand, life has been anything but. Kevin Solomon, a resident at 46 Grand St. in Soho, said he and his family are kept awake every Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m. by loud music from the club.

The unlikely ingénueBy Nicole Davis
In a harsh role for a stage debut, Katherine Waterston plays a speed-addicted drifter who becomes even more lost in Los Angeles, the title of the play she’s starring in at the Flea Theater through March 17.

Take my life, pleaseBy Scott Harrah
Although American audiences primarily know Alfred Molina for his role in the Hollywood blockbuster “Spider-Man 2” with Tobey Maguire, his stage work on this side of the Atlantic has not exactly been acclaimed or particularly noteworthy  until now.